Creative Britain Apprenticeships

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he plans to take to ensure the availability of Creative Britain apprenticeships throughout the country.

Margaret Hodge: My Department is already working with employers, sector skills councils, Trade Associations, the Learning and Skills Council and other Government Departments to ensure the provision of high quality places, for example, Creative and Cultural Skills are currently developing proposals for apprentices in live events and promotion, music business (recording industry), technical theatre (rigging, lighting and sound), costume and wardrobe, cultural and heritage venue operation and community arts.
	The provision of apprenticeship places is a devolved matter. However the Sector Skills Councils, who engage with employers, operate within a UK wide context. Creative and Cultural Skills Sector Skills Council for example, are in discussions with Scottish Government to ensure that creative apprenticeships are developed in Scotland, based on employer demand.

National Lottery: Finance

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what proportion of the cost of each National Lottery ticket bought online goes towards  (a) prize money,  (b) good causes,  (c) lottery duty,  (d) operating costs and  (e) profit for the National Lottery operator;
	(2)  how the money received from National Lottery tickets sold online is apportioned into  (a) prize money,  (b) good causes,  (c) lottery duty,  (d) operating costs and  (e) profit for the National Lottery operator.

Gerry Sutcliffe: National lottery ticket sales revenue is liable to lottery duty which is set by HM Treasury, currently at 12 per cent. The terms of the second licence to operate the lottery govern the way in which the remainder of the revenue is apportioned among prize money, good causes, retailer commissions and operator retentions (from which costs and profits are met). The second licence does not provide for this apportionment to be calculated on a game by game or sales channel by sales channel basis (the licence can be viewed on the National Lottery Commission website: www.natlotcomm. gov.uk <http://www.natlotcomm.gov.uk>). In particular, all relevant games are aggregated when calculating the appropriate contributions to the National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF) and Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund (OLDF).

Offender Management

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on offender management in Wales.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Government remain committed to ensuring efficient offender management. We have committed a further £40 million towards more effective community sentences; are providing increased prison capacity with an extra £1.2 billion to deliver a further and extended building programme that will create 15,000 places in England and Wales by 2014; 330 of which will be at Parc Prison in Bridgend by 2011.

Animals: Disease Control

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what arrangements there are to deal with circumstances where a devolved administration disagrees with his Department's policy or actions in the event of an animal disease outbreak.

Jonathan R Shaw: Disease control functions are a devolved matter, but DEFRA and the devolved administrations all work to EU rules. This aligns our policies and minimises any serious differences. During an animal disease outbreak, consultations and discussions take place at all levels to ensure that coherent and effective measures operate across the UK.

Bees: Conservation

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many beehives were damaged by the varroa mite in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: By 1995 virtually all apiaries in England had some degree of Varroa infestation. While there may be colonies in isolated areas, which have yet to be infested by Varroa, the pest is virtually ubiquitous. Every colony is damaged by Varroa to varying degrees once it becomes infested. Uncontrolled it will kill colonies and that is why it is important for beekeepers to understand the biology of the mite, know the levels of Varroa populations and how to treat their colonies to keep the mite below damage thresholds.

Bees: Diseases

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on bee colony collapse;
	(2)  what recent research he has commissioned into colony collapse disease affecting bees; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: DEFRA is aware of the press reports last year about the serious situation in the USA in respect of cases of abnormally high levels of colony loss, described as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). While some common factors have been identified, such as high levels of Israeli Paralysis Virus, the cause of colony collapse has yet to be identified.
	Scientists and inspectors at DEFRA's National Bee Unit (NBU) are continuing to monitor the situation in the USA. To date, we do not have evidence to suggest that there is something similar happening in the UK.
	The limited cases of high losses which occur here, for which there is no ready explanation such as poor management or failure to control the Varroa mite, are investigated in depth as part of the NBU's horizon-scanning work.

Bluetongue Disease

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the likelihood of cases of bluetongue arising in 2008 and subsequent years;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the likelihood of bluetongue overwintering in the UK.

Jonathan R Shaw: Bluetongue disease is spread from animal to animal by midges. During the winter, midge activity is at its lowest, and low temperatures mean that virus is unlikely to replicate in the midges. As temperatures increase and midges become more active, it is likely that disease will re-emerge this year.
	Experiences in northern Europe in 2007 showed that the virus reappeared in spring, with clinical cases being observed in June/July. Given our similar climate, we are preparing on the basis of a similar scenario in the UK this year.
	The implementation of a vaccination programme could significantly reduce bluetongue virus circulation and limit its geographical distribution, contributing to its control and potential eradication at some point in the future. However, the future is uncertain and it is acknowledged that the UK may have to live with the threat of bluetongue for some time to come.
	Further information about our control and vaccination strategy is available on the DEFRA website.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Finance

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with  (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer,  (b) other Treasury Ministers and  (c) Treasury civil servants on funding for tackling bovine tuberculosis .

Jonathan R Shaw: There have been no recent discussions with my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, other Treasury Ministers or officials on funding for tackling bovine TB.

Climbing

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the contribution to the rural economy of  (a) mountaineering and  (b) hillwalking.

Jonathan R Shaw: DEFRA has not specifically assessed the contribution to the rural economy of hill walking or mountaineering. However, Natural England has published the results of a survey of leisure day visits in England in 2005 and these do provide an estimate of the value of walking, hill walking and rambling in rural areas. The estimated value, in 2005, of walking, hill walking and rambling in the countryside and along the coast was £1.325 billion.
	Not all of this expenditure was made in the rural economy as, for example, many of the visits started from urban areas and involved spend on petrol and ticket fares. Also, this figure does not include overnight spend on accommodation, or spend by overseas visitors. Although mountaineering activity was captured in this survey, the numbers of participants interviewed as part of the telephone survey of 46,000 households was too low to make a statistically reliable estimate of spending specifically associated with this activity.

Hostels: Finance

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding his Department gave to capital infrastructure projects for youth hostels in each of the last 30 years.

Jonathan R Shaw: DEFRA was created in June 2001 and it does not have responsibility for or provide direct funding for youth hostels.

Laboratories: Capital Investment

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what capital funding was provided for  (a) Pirbright and  (b) Weybridge laboratories in the last five years; and what future capital funding is planned.

Jonathan R Shaw: Under a ministerial agreement made with the then named Department of Trade and Industry, now the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, DEFRA agreed to provide a total of £67 million capital grant in aid funding during the period 2004-13 for the redevelopment of the Institute of Animal Health laboratory and Pirbright. To date the value of the funding DEFRA has provided is:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2004-05 1,195,000 
			 2005-06 3,700,000 
			 2006-07 6,300,000 
			 2007-08 6,537,000 
		
	
	DEFRA capital funding for the Veterinary Laboratories Agency located at Weybridge for the last five years and estimated funding for the current and future years is:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2003-04 32,164,000 
			 2004-05 16,993,000 
			 2005-06 20,419,000 
			 2006-07 18,034,000 
			 2007-08 (1)19,000,000 
			 2008-09 (1)10,000,000 
			 2009-10 (1)2,000,000 
			 2010-11 (1)2,000,000 
			 (1)( )Estimated

Arson

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many deliberate  (a) property and  (b) vehicle fires were attended by each fire and rescue service in each year since 1997.

Parmjit Dhanda: Information on the number of deliberate property (i.e. dwellings and other buildings) and vehicle fires, in England, as attended by Fire and Rescue Services, from 1997 to 2006 (the latest calendar year for which information is available), is displayed in Table 1. Data for 2006 is provisional and subject to change.
	
		
			  Table 1: Deliberate fires( 1)  by year and location, England, 1997 to 2006( 2) 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001 
			  FRS area  Properties  Road vehicles  Properties  Road vehicles  Properties  Road vehicles  Properties  Road vehicles  Properties  Road vehicles 
			  England 26,221 35,162 24,357 40,090 25,472 51,888 25,487 58,979 27,653 67,158 
			
			  England—Non-Met counties 12,763 17,519 12,131 20,505 12,471 26,564 12,867 30,701 14,125 34,545 
			 Avon 448 887 411 1,158 435 1,669 513 2,057 600 2,540 
			 Bedfordshire 261 513 247 533 225 727 246 964 221 865 
			 Berkshire 256 509 213 561 203 720 237 865 244 944 
			 Buckinghamshire 307 562 269 653 279 808 299 890 268 1,033 
			 Cambridgeshire 303 504 316 537 319 827 309 880 315 813 
			 Cheshire 513 432 471 567 472 619 518 667 532 946 
			 Cleveland 615 571 523 755 607 1,125 655 1,207 690 1,483 
			 Cornwall 117 178 147 162 107 169 137 237 158 310 
			 Cumbria 216 300 188 344 252 372 193 430 247 380 
			 Derbyshire 328 507 324 567 336 805 310 802 322 942 
			 Devon 379 443 308 462 342 499 298 556 392 614 
			 Dorset 250 286 206 317 231 401 227 493 256 589 
			 Durham 420 507 366 657 308 732 287 749 383 751 
			 East Sussex 338 455 325 520 293 716 368 882 403 918 
			 Essex 396 649 379 724 471 961 574 1,559 553 1,740 
			 Gloucestershire 179 264 168 256 159 290 185 353 154 464 
			 Hampshire 530 526 560 710 511 802 436 839 501 822 
			 Hereford and Worcester 272 299 218 311 218 415 223 465 287 450 
			 Hertfordshire 333 431 281 466 321 677 347 845 345 885 
			 Humberside 668 722 639 902 681 1,186 595 1,092 650 1,379 
			 Isle of Wight 58 22 45 10 42 21 54 19 70 32 
			 Kent 607 1,086 578 1,397 595 1,864 555 2,373 665 2,143 
			 Lancashire 881 821 933 918 1,101 1,229 1,081 1,169 1,212 1,366 
			 Leicestershire 460 752 496 819 431 1,075 415 1,063 527 1,172 
			 Lincolnshire 167 263 197 364 230 373 185 421 198 473 
			 Norfolk 309 411 287 436 244 489 285 696 286 738 
			 North Yorkshire 189 255 193 252 185 384 198 450 219 553 
			 Northamptonshire 326 550 338 632 337 763 363 941 406 954 
			 Northumberland 178 272 172 236 165 327 166 309 196 372 
			 Nottinghamshire 512 818 551 1,062 624 1,562 589 1,772 680 2,672 
			 Oxfordshire 217 372 188 478 197 544 223 686 170 566 
			 Shropshire 155 309 185 309 163 315 179 409 222 512 
			 Somerset 148 226 120 248 141 374 155 411 165 513 
			 Staffordshire 421 653 412 809 398 955 453 968 497 1,137 
			 Suffolk 168 164 139 148 143 222 176 326 219 400 
			 Surrey 215 329 185 381 164 508 194 636 197 659 
			 Warwickshire 163 343 171 397 151 461 196 511 150 568 
			 West Sussex 261 239 223 291 239 389 269 435 343 540 
			 Wiltshire 198 89 159 159 151 192 174 275 181 306 
			 Isles of Scilly 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			
			  England—Met Counties 13,458 17,644 12,226 19,585 13,001 25,324 12,620 28,278 13,528 32,613 
			 Greater Manchester 2,642 4,042 2,439 4,130 2,738 5,166 2,529 5,717 2,676 7,017 
			 Merseyside 1,725 1,569 1,606 1,838 1,836 2,568 1,865 3,124 1,787 3,473 
			 South Yorkshire 677 1,562 740 1,901 715 2,254 755 2,125 877 2,383 
			 Tyne and Wear 1,372 1,581 1,201 1,738 1,145 2,068 1,110 1,953 1,188 2,259 
			 West Midlands 2,430 3,044 2,078 3,110 2,102 4,154 2,089 4,423 2,127 4,834 
			 West Yorkshire 1,601 2,874 1,459 3,491 1,420 4,169 1,383 4,817 1,673 6,171 
			 Greater London 3,011 2,971 2,703 3,378 3,045 4,945 2,889 6,118 3,200 6,475 
		
	
	
		
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006( 2) 
			  FRS area  Properties  Road vehicles  Properties  Road vehicles  Properties  Road vehicles  Properties  Road vehicles  Properties  Road vehicles 
			  England 25,144 66,018 26,077 61,088 22,769 46,660 19,848 40,335 18,254 34,893 
			
			  England—Non-Met counties 13,223 34,976 13,653 32,598 12,398 25,308 10,784 22,232 9,896 19,492 
			 Avon 492 2,147 574 1,838 498 1,502 417 1,373 385 1,258 
			 Bedfordshire 275 968 238 735 261 476 209 434 203 354 
			 Berkshire 239 717 231 628 219 561 143 471 163 413 
			 Buckinghamshire 260 843 288 883 257 675 259 615 222 475 
			 Cambridgeshire 289 1,034 314 961 299 721 245 620 267 576 
			 Cheshire 524 980 496 924 519 892 440 1,011 388 847 
			 Cleveland 731 1,688 656 1,397 495 1,083 397 719 376 628 
			 Cornwall 119 349 109 359 143 271 122 210 98 211 
			 Cumbria 178 408 195 408 163 359 170 330 157 234 
			 Derbyshire 338 1,020 392 894 297 574 289 535 254 456 
			 Devon 373 614 388 623 311 586 310 447 281 429 
			 Dorset 213 515 202 507 173 353 165 320 135 251 
			 Durham 320 823 300 797 287 583 228 535 232 442 
			 East Sussex 368 841 427 695 408 499 301 414 256 340 
			 Essex 536 1,598 524 1,537 474 1,117 377 883 372 768 
			 Gloucestershire 181 532 185 549 171 534 133 386 153 330 
			 Hampshire 412 838 440 815 382 644 309 640 251 682 
			 Hereford and Worcester 210 518 189 426 203 411 156 259 155 304 
			 Hertfordshire 306 891 334 829 282 645 265 531 195 445 
			 Humberside 666 1,695 693 2,079 671 1,582 520 1,387 541 1,073 
			 Isle of Wight 40 45 44 36 38 27 59 21 49 35 
			 Kent 607 1,896 682 1,800 595 1,454 555 1,532 468 1,250 
			 Lancashire 1,040 1,392 1,183 1,274 994 1,043 939 911 855 810 
			 Leicestershire 444 1,171 381 926 326 680 301 510 274 471 
			 Lincolnshire 183 575 194 584 196 463 181 412 171 304 
			 Norfolk 286 732 301 711 285 482 229 471 240 380 
			 North Yorkshire 219 569 167 520 163 347 161 451 158 349 
			 Northamptonshire 415 1,042 392 1,052 384 805 382 755 297 814 
			 Northumberland 188 351 196 390 155 270 125 173 126 181 
			 Nottinghamshire 762 3,064 847 2,499 790 1,707 629 1,346 503 1,120 
			 Oxfordshire 185 565 165 556 171 457 156 426 135 385 
			 Shropshire 217 405 200 346 170 323 190 213 166 253 
			 Somerset 166 612 181 492 172 285 128 247 120 231 
			 Staffordshire 454 1,087 451 1,112 422 906 397 817 367 735 
			 Suffolk 178 375 163 358 150 326 165 309 142 282 
			 Surrey 224 701 282 697 253 539 201 476 252 448 
			 Warwickshire 171 666 200 616 171 553 142 476 141 405 
			 West Sussex 265 474 295 495 296 364 242 341 211 316 
			 Wiltshire 149 237 154 248 154 209 147 225 136 207 
			 Isles of Scilly 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			
			  England—Met Counties 11,921 31,042 12,424 28,490 10,371 21,351 9,064 18,103 8,358 15,402 
			 Greater Manchester 2,374 5,821 2,485 5,132 1,930 4,001 1,811 3,732 1,726 3,206 
			 Merseyside 1,652 3,416 1,728 3,443 1,413 2,806 1,090 2,127 1,036 1,729 
			 South Yorkshire 756 3,098 903 3,098 822 2,280 707 2,040 686 1,985 
			 Tyne and Wear 1,057 2,234 1,092 2,056 827 1,514 748 1,354 684 1,264 
			 West Midlands 1,885 4,612 1,929 4,272 1,584 3,301 1,393 2,704 1,256 1,990 
			 West Yorkshire 1,378 6,482 1,377 5,617 1,280 3,620 1,073 2,722 1,042 2,349 
			 Greater London 2,819 5,379 2,910 4,872 2,515 3,829 2,242 3,424 1,928 2,879 
			 (1) Excluding incidents not recorded during periods of industrial action in 2002 and 2003. (2) Provisional.

Disabled Facilities Grants

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many disabled facilities grant awards were made in each of the last five years.

Iain Wright: Disabled facilities grant is a mandatory grant used to provide adaptations to the homes of disabled people. Local authorities in England report their annual disabled facilities grant expenditure and the number of recipients of disabled facilities grant through the housing strategy statistical appendix. The 2006-07 housing strategy statistical appendix report was recently published. The following table sets out the number of disabled facilities grant recipients in England from 2002-03 to 2006-07:
	
		
			   Number of recipients 
			 2002-03 29,314 
			 2003-04 34,925 
			 2004-05 38,552 
			 2005-06 34,955 
			 2006-07 37,266

Disabled Facilities Grants

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many disabled facilities grant awards have been made at the maximum level of £25,000 in the last five years.

Iain Wright: holding answer 27 March 2008
	The disabled facilities grant is a mandatory grant used to provide adaptations to the homes of disabled people. Local authorities in England report their total annual disabled facilities grant expenditure and the number of recipients of disabled facilities grant through the Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix. This does not include information on the individual level of grants awarded.

Disabled Facilities Grants

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many disabled facilities grant awards the Government estimates will be made at the new maximum level of £30,000 in the three years after its introduction in April 2008; and what the effect on costs will be.

Iain Wright: holding answer 27 March 2008
	In 2004, the Government launched a cross departmental review of the disabled facilities grant programme. Bristol university were commissioned to carry out an independent study of the programme and make recommendations for change. One of the recommendations for change was to increase the maximum level for a disabled facilities grant. Bristol estimated that increasing the limit from £25,000 to £30,000 would impact on the national budget in the region of £4.3 million. It is estimated that this increase will affect in the region of 1,000 grant applications each year. The national budget for the disabled facilities grant programme increases by £25 million in 2008-09 and then by £10 million in each of the following two years, this increase meets the cost of the changes made to the programme as well as helping to address the continued growth in demand for adaptations.

Disabled Facilities Grants

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 25 February 2008,  Official Report, columns 66-67WS, on the national strategy for housing in an ageing society: disabled facilities grant (funding), how many disabled facilities grant awards the Government estimate will be made in  (a) 2008-09,  (b) 2009-10 and  (c) 2010-11.

Iain Wright: The disabled facilities grant is a mandatory grant used to provide adaptations to the homes of disabled people. Local authorities in England report their annual disabled facilities grant expenditure and the number of recipients of disabled facilities grant through the housing strategy statistical appendix.
	The figures provided by the 2007 housing strategy statistical appendix estimates a total of 42,014 will receive disabled facilities grants in 2008-09. The Department do not hold estimated numbers beyond 2008-09.

Energy Performance Certificates: Complaints

Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what complaints procedures are available to those paying for energy performance certificates.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 10 March 2008
	Details of the complaints procedure available to those paying for Energy Performance Certificates are set out in the accreditation scheme standards for Domestic Energy Assessors (DEAs) and Commercial Energy Assessors (CEAs) respectively. A copy of the accreditation scheme standards for DEAs is available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/319273
	The accreditation scheme standards for CEAs are currently being updated. They will be published on the CLG website shortly.

Home Information Packs

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) home information packs and  (b) home condition reports have been commissioned to date.

Iain Wright: holding answer 1 April 2008
	The commercial and private nature of a home owners decision when to place their property on the market for sale means this information is not available in a robust form. We therefore do not hold this information centrally in the format requested.

Incapacity Benefit

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people received incapacity benefits or severe disablement allowance on the grounds of dependency on  (a) drugs and  (b) alcohol in each year since 1997 for which information is available.

Anne McGuire: The Government's drugs strategy was published on 27 February 2008. It stresses the need for the benefit system to support re-integration and personalisation. We will ensure that it provides the right level of support, and also creates incentives for people with drug problems to move towards treatment.
	We will put in place arrangements which require drugs misusers on benefits who are not already in treatment to attend a discussion with an appropriate specialist treatment provider or partner organisation.
	Entitlement to incapacity benefit is not linked to any specific diagnosis or condition. Entitlement, which is assessed by the Personal Capability Assessment, depends on the effect that a person's condition has on their ability to carry out a number of activities relevant to work. Most people with drug or alcohol dependency also have other conditions, such as mental illness; and it is these other conditions which result in entitlement to benefits.
	We do record the diagnosis of incapacity that is written on a claimant's medical certificate. The table shows the number of people receiving incapacity benefits whose recorded diagnosis includes drug or alcohol dependency.
	
		
			  Working age incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance claims which includes a recorded diagnosis of alcoholism or drug abuse from the claimant ' s medical certificate. 
			  Number as of May:  Alcoholism  Drug abuse  Alcoholism as proportion of caseload  Drug Abuse as proportion of caseload 
			 1997 26,800 21,900 1.03 0.84 
			 1998 29,800 25,300 1.13 0.96 
			 1999 32,500 27,900 1.23 1.05 
			 2000 35,580 30,950 1.32 1.15 
			 2001 38,660 36,230 1.40 1.32 
			 2002 41,040 40,690 1.48 1.47 
			 2003 43,420 43,890 1.57 1.58 
			 2004 45,940 46,120 1.66 1.66 
			 2005 47,740 47,980 1.74 1.75 
			 2006 49,200 48,550 1.83 1.81 
			 2007 51,410 49,890 1.94 1.89 
			  Notes: 1. May 1997 to May 1999 (inclusive) numbers are uprated to WPLS totals and rounded to the nearest hundred. 2. May 2000 to May 2007 (inclusive) numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 4. May 1997 to May 1999 (inclusive) numbers are based on a 5 per cent. sample, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 5. These figures should be used as a guide to the current situation only. 6. Causes of incapacity are based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10(th) Revision, published by the World Health Organisation.  Source:  DWP Information Directorate 5 per cent. sample and 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study

New Deal for Disabled People

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have taken part in the new deal for disabled people  (a) nationally and  (b) in West Lancashire.

Stephen Timms: Nationally, 271,180 people started new deal for disabled people between July 2001 and August 2007. In the same period, 490 people started the programme in the Lancashire, West constituency.

Pensioners

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effects of measures introduced by his Department since 1997 on pensioners in  (a) the UK,  (b) the North East,  (c) the Tees Valley and  (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.

Mike O'Brien: Latest available information shows that average net incomes of pensioner households in the UK increased by 29 per cent. between 1996-97 and 2005-06, and average net incomes of pensioner households in the North East increased by 29 per cent. between 1994-95 to 1996-97 and 2003-04 to 2005-06. Information for the Tees Valley and Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland is not available.
	The Government have introduced a number of measures since 1997 to help older people to enjoy a better standard of living, most notably the introduction of the minimum income guarantee and its successor pension credit. We have successively raised the pension credit standard minimum guarantee by earnings in every year since its introduction. For 2008 the standard minimum guarantee will rise to £124.05—an increase of 4.2 per cent.—more than keeping pace with earnings and prices.
	In addition we have introduced winter fuel payments for those aged 60 and over, including an extra one-off payment for winter 2008-09 of £50 for households with someone aged 60 to 79 and £100 for those with someone aged 80 or over announced in the Budget on 12 March 2008.
	We have also introduced free television licences for people aged over 75 and from April 2008 those over 60 will be entitled to free off-peak bus travel in England. We have committed to increasing the basic state pension by earnings by 2012, subject to affordability and the fiscal position, or by the end of the next Parliament.
	As a result of the personal tax and benefit changes that we have introduced pensioner households nationally will be around £1,500 a year better off in 2008-09 than they would have been under the 1997 system. The poorest third of pensioner households will on average be around £2,100 a year better off.
	Our new public service agreement 'Tackle poverty and promote greater independence and wellbeing in later life' demonstrates our commitment to ensure that the specific needs of the older population are given due priority.

Departmental Property

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the locations are of accommodation sold by his Department in each year since 1993; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: Details of all Ministry of Defence (MOD) accommodation sold as far back as 1993 is not available, as central records were not kept until 2000. However, the following table provides details of MOD property sold in the UK since 2000.
	
		
			  Financial year beginning  Site  Town 
			 2006 Agricultural Land Disposal (2) (DCSA Forest Moor) Harrogate 
			  Monkmoors Disposal Area (DE Eskmeals) Millom 
			  Higham Grange—OMU (DCSA Radio Inskip) Preston 
			  Administration Site (RAF Boulmer Remainder of Old Admin Site) Boulmer 
			  Rawcliffe PSD (UNITER Building Rawcliffe Bridge) Goole 
			  Agricultural Land Disposal (3) (DCSA Radio Forest Moor) Harrogate 
			  Monkmoors Disposal Area (Garage No. 2, Hycemoor) (DE Eskmeals) Millom 
			  Monkmoors Disposal Area (Garage No. 5, Hycemoor) (DE Eskmeals) Millom 
			  Meagill (Woodland) (DCSA Radio Forest Moor) Blubberhouses 
			  Killymeal Hse, Dungannon Dungannon 
			  Aberdeen—Ashwood Circle 23-37 Aberdeen 
			  Arbroath Condor Drive Arbroath 
			  Benbecula—Tuzo Close MQs Balivanich 
			  Inverness—Dev Site-Raigmore Ave—Plot 2 Inverness 
			  Cupar—Tarvitt Drive North Cupar 
			  Cupar—Tarvitt Drive East Cupar 
			  Cupar—Tarvitt Drive South Cupar 
			  Cupar—Tarvitt Drive Centre Cupar 
			  Portpatrick—Ground Monitor Station Portpatrick 
			  Penicuik—Parkhead Lodge Glencorse 
			  Forres—Thornhill Forres 
			  Forres—Thornhill Estate Properties—With DE for Disposal Forres 
			  Forres—Thornhill Estate Properties Forres 
			  Garelochhead—Rowmore Cottages Garelochhead 
			  Rosneath Grass Verge Rosneath 
			  Paisley—Lammermuir Drive Paisley 
			  Perth—Stormont Road SFA (Phase 3) Scone 
			  (Peterhead) Invernettie Estate Properties—Operational Peterhead 
			  Boddam—The Sheilings Estate Properties—with DE for Disposal—Phase 4 (part) (No. 5 and 7) Boddam 
			  Saxa Vord—17, 20-29 and 53-76 Settlers Hill Haroldswick 
			  Irvine Dundonald Cres Irvine 
			  Lossiemouth—Development Site Lossiemouth 
			  Forres—Thornhill Forres 
			  Lossiemouth—St. Gerardines Road Lossiemouth 
			  Perth—Stormont Road SFA (Phase 3) Scone 
			  Edinburgh—Cramond Place Evens SFA Properties—With DE for Disposal Edinburgh 
			  Edinburgh—Polton Estate Edinburgh 
			  Saxa Vord—17, 20-29 and 53-76 Settlers Hill Haroldswick 
			  Poor Wood ATE Caerwent Caerwent 
			  UNITER Building ATE Templeton Templeton 
			  Army Medals Office, Droitwich Droitwich Spa 
			  West Raynham (tech site) West Raynham 
			  West Raynham (Former owner sale—Townsend) West Raynham 
			  Families Club Norwich 
			  RAF Stoke Holy Cross Poringland 
			  South Creake Seismic Station South Creake 
			  RAF Neatishead Neatishead 
			  RAF Coltishall and Sewage Treatment Works Norwich 
			  Rushley Cottage Great Wakering 
			  Land adjoining 23 Hillside Crescent (Manchester SFA) Ashton under Lyne 
			  Lossiemouth—Cromarty Place Lossiemouth 
			  Elgin—Shaw Place Elgin 
			  Lossiemouth Lossiemouth 
			  West Raynham ('Former owner sale'—Overman) West Raynham 
			  Higham Grange Nissen Hut (DCSA Radio Inskip) Preston 
			  16 Hillside Crescent Manchester SFA Ashton under Lyne 
			  17 Hillside Crescent Manchester SFA Ashton under Lyne 
			  8 Ladysmith Road Manchester SFA Ashton under Lyne 
			  Land adjoining No. 16 Hillside Crescent Manchester SFA Ashton under Lyne 
			  Barrack—Carpet Store Norwich 
			  18 Hillside Crescent Manchester SFA Ashton under Lyne 
			  Mahon Road, Portadown Portadown 
			  Higham Grange—Nissen Hut—Additional (DCSA Radio Inskip) Preston 
			  West Raynham (tech site) West Raynham 
			  Halton Hospital—Disposal Site Wendover 
			  Queens Gate Aldershot 
			  General Aviation Area (Part) Aldershot 
			  Whitewall Creek—Chatham Frindsbury 
			  Maidstone ACF HQ (Maidstone TA) Maidstone 
			  Guillemont Fields and Rhine Banks Estate (part) Aldershot 
			  Access to Riverside Cottage Upper Upnor, Rochester 
			  Halton Tennis Centre Halton 
			  Sportsground at Uckfield Road Crowborough 
			  Driving Test Centre (Land at North Lane) Aldershot 
			  Longcott Road Plots Shrivenham 
			  Northern Parade Portsmouth 
			  Clayhall Cemetery Gosport 
			  RM Dunkeswell South (Plots 1a and 1b) Honiton 
			  DMC Plymouth (Ernsettle House) Plymouth 
			  Bullpoint—School Site Plymouth 
			  RM Dunkeswell North Honiton 
			  St. Mawgan Airfield (BFI 7) Newquay 
			  St. Mawgan Airfield (Seaview Bungalow) Newquay 
			  DMC Dean Hill (Depot Open Market) West Dean 
			  DMC Dean Hill (Depot Open Market) (Rolling Stock—Train, carriages etc.) West Dean 
			  11 Hillside Close Salisbury 
			  Elles Road Wareham 
			  Playground Area (Depot/Warehouses) Ludgershall 
			  Elmtree Close Recreation Ground Devizes 
			  Land (Higham Road) North of Hoo Road Wainscott, Rochester 
			  Tented Area Weymouth 
			  1, 2, 3 and 4 Langton Park Wroughton

Births: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many babies have been born at the Queen's hospital, Romford since it was opened.

Ann Keen: I have been asked to reply.
	This requested information is not collected centrally.
	The hon. member may wish to raise this matter with the chief executive of Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals National Health Service Trust, of which Queen's hospital is a part.

Exercise: Health Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government is taking to promote increased cardiovascular exercise by persons under 40 years of age.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department and the national health service promote the benefits of physical activity to people of all ages and is keen to target those individuals most at risk of inactivity.
	Action includes the piloting of a physical activity care pathway model in a number of general practitioner practices in London, targeting sedentary adults while the National Step-o-meter programme is already providing training and free loan pedometers to health professionals for use with inactive patients.
	Other examples of current action include:
	in total 86 per cent. of school children now do at least two hours of quality sport a week and we aim to offer every child and young person the chance of five hours sport a week by 2011;
	over 91 per cent. of schools are now participating in the Healthy Schools Programme;
	the National School Pedometer Programme is distributing 45,000 pedometers to encourage children to become more active;
	a further £140 million funding for Cycling England has been announced;
	new investment of £225 million outlined in the Children's Plan to allow up to 3,500 playgrounds to be rebuilt or renewed; and
	a £372 million investment in this Cross-Government Obesity Strategy—"Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A Gross Government Strategy for England", to enable people to maintain a healthier weight for a healthier life.
	A copy of this publication is available in the Library.

Pensioners: Standard of Living

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government has taken to improve living standards for pensioners in  (a) the UK,  (b) the North East,  (c) the Tees Valley and  (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency since 1997.

Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
	Latest available information shows that average net incomes of pensioner households in the UK increased by 29 per cent. between 1996-97 and 2005-06, and average net incomes of pensioner households in the north east increased by 29 per cent. between 1994-95 to 1996-97 and 2003-04 to 2005-06. Information for the Tees Valley and Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland is not available.
	The Government have introduced a number of measures since 1997 to help older people to enjoy a better standard of living, most notably the introduction of the minimum income guarantee and its successor pension credit. We have successively raised the pension credit standard minimum guarantee by earnings in every year since its introduction. For 2008 the standard minimum guarantee will rise to £124.05—an increase of 4.2 per cent.—more than keeping pace with earnings and prices.
	In addition we have introduced winter fuel payments for those aged 60 and over, including an extra one-off payment for winter 2008-09 of £50 for households with someone aged 60 to 79 and £100 for those with someone aged 80 or over announced in the Budget on 12 March 2008.
	We have also introduced free television licences for people aged over 75 and from April 2008 those over 60 will be entitled to free off-peak bus travel in England. We have committed to increasing the basic state pension by earnings by 2012, subject to affordability and the fiscal position, or by the end of the next Parliament.
	As a result of the personal tax and benefit changes that we have introduced pensioner households nationally will be around £1,500 a year better off in 2008-09 than they would have been under the 1997 system. The poorest third of pensioner households will on average be around £2,100 a year better off.
	Our new public service agreement 'Tackle poverty and promote greater independence and wellbeing in later life' demonstrates our commitment to ensure that the specific needs of the older population are given due priority.

Revenue and Customs: Manpower

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax collectors were employed by HM Revenue and Customs and its predecessor in each year since 1979; how much tax revenue they collected in each year; how many are expected to be employed in each of the next three years; and how much is expected to be collected by them in each year.

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 17 March
	Most of the staff in HM Revenue and Customs, and its predecessor departments, Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise, are employed directly or indirectly in the collection of tax. However, because of departmental reorganisation it is not possible to provide directly comparable figures for each of the years in question.
	In 2006-07, the average number of people HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) employed in the collection of taxes (taken from Note 9 of the 2006-07 Resource Account) was 89,746. This figure does not include staff working on child benefit and child trust fund). HMRC collected £423.443 billion in tax in 2006-07, and in 2007-08 £383.701 billion up to the end of February 2008.
	For staff numbers and the amount of tax collected for earlier years are published in to previous annual reports and accounts for HMRC and its predecessor departments.
	Detailed staffing estimates for each of the next three years are not available, but HMRC has indicated that it expects by 2011 to be operating with around 25,000 fewer posts than the baseline SR04 figure of 97,755 full-time equivalent posts on 1 April 2004.
	Table C6 of Budget 2008 (HC 388) gives estimates of future receipts.

VAT: Personal Care Services

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the revenue to be raised by charging VAT to the users of saunas and spas within leisure centres backdated in respect of  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006 and  (c) 2007;
	(2)  what legal advice his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on charging back dated value added tax on charities running leisure centres with spas and saunas;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the effects of charging back-dated value added tax to charities which run leisure centres which offer spa and sauna facilities;
	(4)  what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on leisure centres liability for back-dated value added tax where those leisure centres allow swimmers access to saunas or spas.

Jane Kennedy: There have been no recent changes to the VAT rules for supplies made by leisure centres. No estimate has been made of revenue properly due from leisure centres on charges made for use of their saunas and spas between 2005 and 2007.
	HM Revenue and Customs regularly receives and evaluates legal and other advice on the administration of the VAT rules, and its statutory duties in relation to the collection of VAT that is properly due. Treasury Ministers are also in regular discussion with Ministers in other Departments on a range of issues.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 March 2008,  Official Report, column 722W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Eltham (Clive Efford).

Welfare Tax Credits

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Tax Credit Office's target is for responding to  (a) letters,  (b) telephone calls and  (c) e-mails from (i) hon. Members and (ii) members of the public; and how many in each category were answered within the target time in the last 12 months.

Jane Kennedy: It is HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) aim to reply to the majority of all letters within three weeks. There is no separate target for emails.
	The majority of telephone enquiries to Tax Credit Office are dealt with as they are received.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 18 February 2008,  Official Report, columns 368-69W.

Welfare Tax Credits

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people  (a) left the Tax Credit Office and  (b) were recruited to permanent posts in the Tax Credit Office in each year since 2003; what proportion of current staff are employed on (i) a temporary basis and (ii) contracts of less than one year; and what the average salary is of staff working in (A) the Tax Credit Office and (B) HM Revenue and Customs as a whole.

Jane Kennedy: For the information requested at  (a) and  (b) I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) on 17 March 2008,  Official Report, column 898W.
	The proportion of Tax Credit Office staff on temporary contracts is around 12/4 per cent. and none of those contracts have been for less than one year.
	The average salary of staff at all grades working in TCO is (A) £24,400 and in HM Revenue and Customs as a whole is (B) £23,300.

Alcoholic Drinks: Enforcement

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government have taken to reduce underage drinking in the last three years.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 12 March 2008
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 27 March 2008,  Official Report, column 423W.

Asylum: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of people living in York seeking asylum in each year since 1997.

Liam Byrne: Statistics on the location of asylum seekers in the UK are linked to the available information on the support that the asylum seeker receives. The location of those asylum seekers not in receipt of support is not available.
	The number of asylum seekers in receipt of support are available, broken down by Government office region, local authority and parliamentary constituency; these regional breakdowns are available from December 2002.
	The number of asylum seekers in receipt of support are published on a quarterly and annual basis. Copies of these publications are available in the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
	Further breakdowns by parliamentary constituency are available from the Library of the House.

Bigamy

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences of bigamy were recorded in each year since 1997; and what percentage of these offences  (a) resulted in court proceedings against suspected perpetrators,  (b) led to a conviction and  (c) resulted in a sanction detection.

Vernon Coaker: The information is not available in the form requested.
	Table 1 gives the number of offences of bigamy recorded by the police and the number detected by means of a sanction detection. Table 2 shows the numbers of defendants proceeded against and found guilty at all courts for bigamy for the years 1997 to 2006, and is taken from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform.
	Recorded crime and court proceedings statistics are from two different databases and recorded in quite different ways. Recorded crime data is provided on a financial year basis and counts offences whereas court proceedings data are on a calendar year basis and count offenders. Therefore, these two separate data-sets are not directly comparable.
	
		
			  Table 1: Offences of bigamy recorded by the police and detected by means of a sanction detection—1997 to 2006-07 
			   Number of offences  Number of sanction detections 
			 1997 75 n/a 
			 1997-98 106 n/a 
			 1998-99 129 n/a 
			 1999-2000 83 n/a 
			 2000-01 80 n/a 
			 2001-02 74 33 
			 2002-03 88 38 
			 2003-04 71 47 
			 2004-05 104 44 
			 2005-06 101 47 
			 2006-07 61 37 
			 n/a = Not available 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts for bigamy offence, England and Wales 1997  to  2006( 1, 2, 3) 
			  Offence  Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 1997 22 16 
			 1998 30 18 
			 1999 40 28 
			 2000 17 12 
			 2001 23 17 
			 2002 31 16 
			 2003 29 20 
			 2004 22 22 
			 2005 28 21 
			 2006 23 11 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis.  (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  (3) The found guilty column can often exceed the number proceeded against when a conviction takes place in a different month to when the proceeding was originally brought, or for a different offence.

Crime and Disorder Act 1998

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences were recorded under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 in each year since 2002, broken down by offence; and what percentage of these offences  (a) resulted in court proceedings against suspected perpetrators,  (b) led to a conviction and  (c) resulted in a sanction detection.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested is not available. Offences under this legislation are recorded in either the appropriate 'Racially or religiously aggravated' offence classification or in the 'Other offences against the State and Public Order' offence classification and cannot be separately identified from other offences within those classifications. As a result, information on the percentage which resulted in court proceedings and convictions for those offences cannot be provided.

Crime: Drugs

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 11 March 2008,  Official Report, column 339W, on crime: drugs, 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the performance of drug enforcement authorities in restricting imports of Class A drugs into the UK;
	(2)  whether a decision has been made to stop measuring Class A drug seizure quantities for drugs specifically destined for the UK.

Vernon Coaker: Given the uncertainty of the final destination of many of the drugs which are seized overseas the Government does not attempt to estimate the amounts which were destined for the UK. The Serious Organised Crime Agency and HM Revenue and Customs will record in the annual reports which they publish later this year the amounts of drugs where they have been involved in the seizures.

Drugs: Caribbean

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she has taken to tackle drug trafficking into the UK from the Caribbean; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: Preventing the importation of cocaine from the Caribbean region is a priority for the UK's international counter-narcotics efforts. The UK works closely with the governments of the region and other international partners to disrupt trafficking and interdict consignments of illicit drugs.
	The FCO has invested in various counter-narcotics projects in the Caribbean through its Global Opportunities Fund's drugs and crime programme. Projects such as the UK Security Advisory Team based in Bridgetown have helped to build capacity among various Caribbean law enforcement agencies and the judiciary.
	HM Revenue and Customs Operation Airbridge was set up in 2002 to reduce the number of couriers arriving in the UK from Jamaica and since its inception the number of couriers arriving in the UK has fallen from about 1,000 to five in the last financial year.
	The Serious Organised Crime Agency maintains a team of resident liaison officers in the region, which works with local partners, US agencies, and others, against major organised crime syndicates. In the Caribbean region during 2007-08 this operational work led to the seizure of 1 tonne of cocaine and 6.5 tonnes of cannabis, and to the arrest of a total of 76 suspects.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funds have been made available to  (a) Thames Valley Police force and  (b) Oxfordshire County Council to further the Government's 2008 drug strategy: Tackling drugs, changing lives.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Office has a provisional allocation of £804,860 from the Drug Interventions Programme for Thames Valley police force in 2008-09. This funding is for drug testing those arrested or charged with trigger offences or for offences where there are grounds to suspect that class A drug use may have caused or contributed to the offence, and for the wider strategic delivery of DIP.
	The Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) main grant is a Home Office grant aimed at getting adult drug-misusing offenders out of crime and into treatment and other support. The drug action team (DAT), a partnership of which Oxfordshire county council is a member, will receive (via the primary care trust) main grant funding of £1,213,041 for the Drug Interventions Programme in 2008-09. It is for the DAT to decide how best to use the funding to deliver the Drug Interventions Programme in their area, taking account of Home Office guidance.
	The Home Office, Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Health are providing funding alongside mainstream funding to support local areas in preventing and reducing substance misuse-related harm (including illegal drugs, alcohol and volatile substances) for children and young people. The funding is routed through to all areas through the area based grant which is paid on an un-ring fenced basis to allow maximum flexibility, to primary care trusts through the Pooled Treatment Budget and to youth offending teams through the Youth Justice Board. Oxfordshire will receive funding of £356,613 in 2008-09.

Immigration: Personal Records

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of records missing from the register of foreign nationals granted indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom.

Liam Byrne: There is no central register of people who have been given indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom.
	Applications for indefinite leave have been recorded on the Case Information Database and on the United Kingdom Visa Database since 2003. There is no estimate made as to records missing from this data base.

Offensive Weapons: Crime Prevention

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government has taken to reduce gun crime since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 1 April 2008
	 The Government have taken a range of action since 1997. This has focused on legislation, enforcement and prevention.
	Legislative measures include:
	the introduction of a five-year minimum sentence for unlawful possession of a prohibited firearm;
	the creation of a new offence of using someone to mind a weapon;
	banning the sale, manufacture and importation of realistic imitation firearms;
	doubling the sentence for the possession of an imitation firearm in public; and
	banning the sale, manufacture and importation of tandem cartridge air systems, such as the Brocock.
	On enforcement:
	We support the work of dedicated intelligence-led enforcement such as Operation Trident, which has a good track record in dealing with gun crime in London. Similar operations have been established in other priority areas.
	We held a national firearms amnesty in April 2003, which resulted in 44,000 guns and over a million rounds of ammunition being handed in and removed from circulation.
	In September 2007, we set up the Tackling Gangs Action Programme (TGAP), to focus work in areas of London, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool which were particularly affected by street gangs and gun crime. A Day of Action in November 2007 resulted in 124 arrests. Further robust enforcement activity has followed, including during a targeted month of action during March 2008.
	TGAP has also been concentrating on the supply of firearms, with focused action on postal hubs and other potential supply routes.
	The Home Office supported the establishment of the National Ballistics Intelligence Service, which is implementing an enhanced firearms forensic technology capability.
	And on prevention:
	The Government work with a wide range of delivery partners on initiatives which can help prevent gun violence. These include the Safer Schools Partnerships, whereby police officers are allocated to schools, providing young people with contact with police officers in a neutral setting; CrimeStoppers, which acts as a conduit for information on crime, including gun crime; From Boyhood to Manhood and other organisations which work intensively with vulnerable young people who have been excluded from school to help them reach their potential; and Street Pastors, who work in a number of inner city areas to help and support young people on the streets.
	The continued delivery of this programme of work will be taken forward through the Tackling Violence Action Plan, published on 18 February 2008.

Paedophilia: Disclosure of Information

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to her written ministerial statement of 18 February 2008,  Official Report, columns 2-3WS, on tackling violence, what plans she has to allow members of the public to apply for information on arrests for child abuse.

Vernon Coaker: The Review of the "Protection of Children from Sex Offenders", published in June 2007, included two actions concerned with disclosing information on child sex offenders' convictions to members of the public, which were referred to in the ministerial statement. These actions are intended to build on existing practice, and were developed in consultation with all relevant agencies and voluntary organisations. The review did not consider disclosing information on arrests, and there are no plans to allow members of the public to apply for information on arrests for child abuse.

Police: Career Structure

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had on the review of the police high potential development scheme; and if she will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) has responsibility for policy, selection and co-ordination for the Police High Potential Development Scheme (HPDS). The NPIA has finished a review of the existing HPDS alongside a wider process of developing the future strategy for police leadership. The revised HPDS is a priority within the NPIA Business Plan and will be re-launched in 2008.

Prisoner Escapes

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences were recorded of absconding from lawful custody in each year since 1997; and what percentage of these offences  (a) resulted in court proceedings against suspected perpetrators,  (b) led to a conviction and  (c) resulted in a sanction detection.

Vernon Coaker: The information is not available in the form requested.
	Table 1 gives the number of offences of absconding from lawful custody and the number detected by means of a sanction detection. Table 2 shows the numbers of defendants proceeded against and found guilty at all courts for absconding from lawful custody for the years 1997 to 2006, and is taken from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform.
	Recorded crime and court proceedings statistics are from two different databases and recorded in quite different ways. Recorded crime data is provided on a financial year basis and counts offences whereas court proceedings data are on a calendar year basis and count offenders. Therefore, these two separate data-sets are not directly comparable.
	
		
			  Table 1: Offences of absconding from lawful custody recorded by the police and detected by means of a sanction detection—1997 to 2006-07 
			   Number of offences  Number of sanction detections 
			 1997 1,379 n/a 
			 1997-98 1,372 n/a 
			 1998-99 1,301 n/a 
			 1999-2000 1,559 n/a 
			 2000-01 1,389 n/a 
			 2001-02 1,357 1,022 
			 2002-03 1,553 1,229 
			 2003-04 1,721 1,412 
			 2004-05 1,362 1,165 
			 2005-06 1,272 1,007 
			 2006-07 980 819 
			 n/a = Not available. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for bigamy offence, England and Wales 1997-2006( 1,2,3) 
			   Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 1997 22 16 
			 1998 30 18 
			 1999 40 28 
			 2000 17 12 
			 2001 23 17 
			 2002 31 16 
			 2003 29 20 
			 2004 22 22 
			 2005 28 21 
			 2006 23 11 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The found guilty column can often exceed the number proceeded against when a conviction takes place in a different month to when the proceeding was originally brought, or for a different offence.

Violent and Sex Offender Register

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals  (a) convicted of a sex offence  (b) imprisoned for more than 12 months for violence and  (c) assessed as being high risk there are on the Violent and Sex Offenders Register; and how many times the database has been accessed in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: As at 19 March 2008, ViSOR contained 58,722 persons categorised as being a "Registered Sexual Offender" (subject to notification requirements) or an "Other Sexual Offender" (not subject to notification requirements). This will include offenders who are in custody and those in the community, and those who are currently required to be supervised and those who are not. It also contained 3,906 persons categorised as being a "Violent Offender" and a total of 14,647 persons recorded as being managed as a "High Risk" or "Very High Risk" person.
	It should be noted that ViSOR is a live system used by the police, and is currently subject to a national roll-out to the National Offender Management Service. As such, it does not yet contain all violent offenders or other sexual offenders.
	Further statistical data on sexual and violent offenders in England and Wales is published in local multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) reports which have been issued annually for the past six years. These are available in the House Library and at:
	http://www.probation.justice.gov.uk/output/page30.asp
	ViSOR is a web-based operational management system that is in continuous use. It is not possible to provide a meaningful statistic relating to the number of times the database has been accessed.

Women's Aid Last Resort Fund

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been allocated to the Women's Aid Last Resort Fund since 2004 in relation to supporting women at risk of domestic abuse whose independent applications for leave to remain in the UK are being considered; and how much she plans to allocate to the Fund in each of the next three years.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 31 March 2008
	During 2004-05 and 2005-06, the Government provided a grant of £145,000 to Women's Aid to bolster their 'Last Resort Fund', a fund aimed at meeting the living costs of a small number of victims in refuges who are not covered by the Supporting People funding arrangements.
	There are currently no plans to support the Last Resort Fund directly in the future. The Government do, however, recognise the particular needs faced by this small group of people and we will soon be announcing details of a new scheme where victims of domestic violence with no recourse to public funds will be eligible to receive support for their housing and living costs. Under the new scheme, victims of domestic violence whose applications for indefinite leave to remain are successful, may qualify for a contribution towards these costs.

Departmental Contracts

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what contracts were awarded by his Department to  (a) KPMG,  (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers,  (c) Ernst and Young,  (d) McKinsey,  (e) Deloitte and  (f) other consultancy firms since the Department was established; and what the (i) purpose and (ii) value was of each of these contracts.

David Lammy: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) was created as a result of Machinery of Government changes in June 2007. DIUS operates a devolved procurement structure for consultancy contracts. As such there is no central register of contracts let. Information on this type of expenditure is not held separately for DIUS for prior years therefore this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, year to date, the Department has spent £2,734,621 on consultancy.

Departmental Private Finance Initiative

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many private finance initiatives and public private partnerships his Department is responsible for; and what the value is of each such contract.

David Lammy: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was created by Machinery of Government Changes at the end of June 2007. The Department does not have any private finance initiatives nor public private partnership contracts.

Departmental Translation Services

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2008,  Official Report, column 854W, on departmental translation services, how much was spent on translation services into  (a) Welsh and  (b) other languages in 2007-08.

David Lammy: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was created as a result of Machinery of Government changes in June 2007. Information on translation expenditure to this level can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Higher Education

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many and what proportion of full-time undergraduates with each number of UCAS tariff points from their A-levels did not complete their degree in each of the last 10 years for which data is available.

Bill Rammell: The available information on the proportion of UK-domiciled starters to full-time first degree courses who are projected to neither obtain an award nor transfer to another institution is shown in table 1. Comparable figures for the 2005/06 academic year will become available in June this year. Information on the actual number of students who are projected to neither obtain an award nor transfer to another institution has not been published. These figures cannot be broken down by UCAS tariff points on entry.
	
		
			  Table 1: Proportion of full-time first degree starters at English and UK higher education institutions, who were projected to neither gain an award nor transfer to another institution, academic  year  1997/98 to 2004/05 
			  Percentage 
			  Academic year  1997/98  1998/99  1999/2000  2000/01  2001/02  2002/03  2003/04  2004/05 
			 England 15.8 15.9 15.8 15.0 13.8 13.9 14.4 13.8 
			 UK 15.7 15.8 15.8 15.0 14.1 14.4 14.9 14.2 
			  Note: Figures from the 1996/97 academic year have been excluded due to a change in methodology between 1996/97 and 1997/98. Figures for years earlier than 1996/97 are not available.  Source: Performance Indicators in Higher Education, published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). 
		
	
	HESA also publishes non-continuation indicators, which show the proportion of entrants to full-time first degree courses not continuing in higher education after their first year, and which can be broken down by entry qualification. Table 2 contains the available information for non-continuation indicators broken down by entry qualification.
	
		
			  Table 2: Proportion of UK-domiciled young( 1)  entrants to full-time first degree courses at UK higher education institutions not continuing in higher education after their first year,  academic year  2002/03 to 2004/05 
			  Entry qualification categories  Tariff points  2002/03  2003/04  2004/05 
			 A-levels or highers Unknown 11.3 12.6 13.9 
			  Up to 200 11.7 11.9 11.2 
			  201 to 290 7.9 8.1 7.7 
			  291 to 380 4.9 5.3 4.9 
			  Above 380 2.6 2.8 2.6 
			  
			 Other qualifications — 11.4 11.6 11.2 
			  
			 All qualifications — 7.8 7.7 7.2 
			 (1) Young refers to entrants who are under 21 years of age.  Note: Figures for years earlier than 2002/03 are not available.  Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). 
		
	
	Student retention rates in this country compare very well internationally. The UK rank fifth in the OECD for first degree completion rates, out of 23 countries who report data in this area. A university education is now open to more students than ever before and the higher education sector has made significant achievements in maintaining, and in some areas slightly improving, retention rates for their students.

Higher Education

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many and what proportion of full-time undergraduates from each socio-economic group did not complete their degree in each of the last 10 years for which data is available.

Bill Rammell: The available information on the proportion of UK-domiciled starters to full-time first degree courses who are projected to neither obtain an award nor transfer to another institution is shown in Table 1. Comparable figures for the 2005-06 academic year will become available in June this year. Information on the actual number of students who are projected to neither obtain an award nor transfer to another institution has not been published.
	
		
			  Table 1: Proportion of full-time first degree starters at English and UK higher education institutions, who were projected to neither gain an award nor transfer to another institution 
			  Percentage 
			   England  UK 
			 1997-98 15.8 15.7 
			 1998-99 15.9 15.8 
			 1999-2000 15.8 15.8 
			 2000-2001 15.0 15.0 
			 2001-02 13.8 14.1 
			 2002-03 13.9 14.4 
			 2003-04 14.4 14.9 
			 2004-05 13.8 14.2 
			  Notes:  Figures from the 1996-97 academic year have been excluded due to a change in methodology between 1996-7 and 1997-98. Figures for years earlier than 1996-97 are not available.   Source:  Performance Indicators in Higher Education, published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). 
		
	
	HESA also publishes non-continuation indicators, which show the proportion of entrants to full-time first degree courses not continuing in higher education after their first year. It is possible to break these down by NS-SEC. Table 2 contains the available information for non-continuation indicators broken down by socioeconomic group. Information on the actual numbers from each socioeconomic group has not been published.
	
		
			  Table 2: Proportion of UK-domiciled young( 1)  entrants to full-time first degree courses at UK higher education institutions not continuing in higher education after their first year 
			  NS-SEC Classification  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05 
			 Groups 1-3 6.3 6.0 5.6 
			 Groups 4-7 8.1 8.2 7.6 
			 Unknown 10.6 12.5 11.8 
			 All classifications 7.8 7.7 7.2 
			 (1) Young refers to entrants who are under 21 years of age.   Note:  Figures for years earlier than the 2002-03 academic year are not available: this is the earliest academic year for which socio-economic classification information is available for higher education students.   Source:  Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). 
		
	
	Student retention rates in this country compare very well internationally. The UK rank fifth in the OECD for first degree completion rates, out of 23 countries who report data in this area. A university education is now open to more students than ever before and the Government are totally committed to providing opportunities for all people to achieve their potential and to maximise their talent.

Higher Education: Finance

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment has been made of the likely effect on  (a) female,  (b) mature and  (c) disabled students of the Government's proposed reduction in spending on equal and lower qualification students; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: Our policy is a progressive redistribution of £100 million in institutional funding by 2010 away from students who already have a first HE qualification and want to study another one at an equivalent or lower level towards first time entrants which will enable more millions of people of working age without a first HE qualification to participate in higher education and enjoy all the benefits it brings. Within that group, about half are female, a quarter are over 50 and a quarter have a disability and these students will all have more opportunities as a result of the ELQ policy. The majority are likely to be mature learners from non-traditional backgrounds who want to study part-time.

Ipsos MORI

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what payments his Department has made to Ipsos MORI in the last 24 months; and for what purposes.

David Lammy: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) was created as a result of Machinery of Government changes in June 2007. DIUS operates a devolved procurement structure for consultancy contracts. As such there is no central register of contracts let. Information on this type of expenditure is not held separately for DIUS for prior years therefore this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, year to date, the Department has spent £2,734,621 on consultancy.

Chad: Armed Conflict

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of  (a) the humanitarian effects of the civil war in Chad since December 2005 and  (b) the availability of humanitarian aid; when this assessment was last reviewed; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Department for International Development (DFID) remains very concerned about the humanitarian effects of the ongoing conflict in Chad. Since the end of 2005, the tensions between Sudan and Chad have increased levels of insecurity. The UN estimates that there are up to 180,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as a result of the conflict, and there are a further 700,000 people thought to have been adversely, affected in host communities.
	DFID continues to monitor developments closely, and is continuously reviewing the level of humanitarian aid available through contact with the Red Cross and with UN and NGO agencies, and through discussions with other donors.
	In overall terms, the 2007 humanitarian effort in Chad was well supported. The 2007 UN appeal for Chad (for $274 million) was 99.5 per cent. funded, making the best supported UN appeal of 2007. The 2007 ICRC Appeal was more than 100 per cent. funded. The 2008 UN appeal (for $290 million) is currently 16.1 per cent. funded, which represents good coverage this early in the year.

Departmental Contracts

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what contracts were awarded by his Department to  (a) KPMG,  (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers,  (c) Ernst and Young,  (d) McKinsey,  (e) Deloitte and  (f) other consultancy firms in each of the last 12 months; and what the (i) purpose and (ii) value was of each of these contracts.

Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development's (DFID) website:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/procurement/contractslet.asp
	provides the requested information on all consultancy contracts awarded for the 12 month period January to December 2007. Low value contracts issued by DFID's overseas offices are not included. To produce a separate list of these would incur a disproportionate cost.

Departmental Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff in his Department have attended the  (a) Influencing with Integrity,  (b) Emotional Intelligence,  (c) Counselling Skills for the Workplace,  (d) Managing your Confidence,  (e) Balancing Work/Life Realities and  (f) Working Assertively training course run by the National School of Government in the last 12 months for which information is available; and at what cost.

Gillian Merron: The statistics for Department for International Development attendance at these National School of Governance (NSG) courses for 2007-08 is as follows:
	
		
			  Course title  Number of DFID participants  Cost (£) 
			 Influencing with Integrity 9 6,543 
			 Emotional Intelligence 1 1,495 
			 Counselling Skills for the Workplace 0 0 
			 Managing your Confidence 1 1,149 
			 Balancing Work/life Realities 0 0 
			 Working Assertively 1 726 
		
	
	Responsibility for booking and financing training courses is at departmental level. NSG are one of a range of possible providers for these types of learning activities.

Developing Countries: Food

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of whether  (a) the Food Security Programme and  (b) the Productive Safety Net Programme set up by the government of Ethiopia are viable models to be encouraged in countries facing similar food security issues; what assistance his Department has (i) offered and (ii) delivered (A) directly, (B) through the European Union and (C) through other international institutions to each programme; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Ethiopian Food Security Programme consists of three components: the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP), the Other Food Security Programme and a programme of resettlement.
	The Department for International Development (DFID) has supported the PSNP since 2005. Since then, DFID has facilitated assessments of both the Food Security Programme and the PSNP. DFID has also supported the dissemination of lessons learned from PSNP to Southern African countries.
	Since 2005, DFID has disbursed £92 million in support of the PSNP. These funds have been provided directly to the Government of Ethiopia.
	DFID does not support the other components of the Food Security Programme.

Moldova: Food

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of the food security situation in Moldova; what assistance his Department has  (a) offered and  (b) provided to (i) the government and (ii) the population of Moldova to alleviate the impact of another possible drought; and if he will make a statement.

Shahid Malik: During 2007 Moldova was affected by a serious drought that reduced crop production across an estimated 84 per cent. of arable land. The Government of Moldova requested assistance from the United Kingdom and other donors. The Department for International Development (DFID) contacted the European Commission (EC) who confirmed that they were responding by providing €4 million of Food Security Programme budget support and releasing €20 million of macro-economic support funds to enable the Government of Moldova to respond to the impact of the drought. The EC also provided €3 million in direct humanitarian aid. Other donors also provided assistance.
	The UK Government are continuing to support the Moldovan Government with longer-term reforms aimed at strengthening the economy of the country and its resilience to future shocks through its small bilateral programme (£4 million pa). This includes a £3 million contribution to the World Bank Poverty Reduction Support Credit, one aim of which is to strengthen the agriculture sector and consequently food security. The EC is also discussing with the Government of Moldova support to agriculture sector reform in its 2008 programme.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effect of the situation in Gaza on the flow of UK aid to the Palestinians; whether his Department plans to resume direct funding to the Palestinian Authority; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) funds public services and humanitarian support in both the West Bank and Gaza. UK contributions to the European Commission's PEGASE mechanism help to provide allowances to 77,000 key workers such as doctors and nurses as well as engineers working to keep Gaza's power supply operational. In addition DFID provided £3 million to the Palestinian Authority (PA) to help pay its private sector debts, directly benefiting firms in Gaza as well as in the West Bank. Financial support of this kind is one way of getting aid directly to the people of Gaza.
	DFID's humanitarian support to Gaza is channelled through major humanitarian agencies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) that are still able to operate in Gaza. I recently announced a further £2 million through the ICRC.
	Concerning support to the Palestinian Authority for both Gaza and the West Bank I refer to the statement I made to the House today in which I announced a £20 million contribution to the Palestinian Authority through a new multi donor mechanism managed by the World Bank.

Aircraft: Air Conditioning

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of recent changes to aircraft design which result in cabin air no longer being taken from engines; if she will re-examine the findings of the relevant study from the Committee on Toxicity; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 31 March 2008
	We are aware that new aircraft designs, such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, are using a different cabin air system. But older aircraft will be in use globally for many years to come. Hence the Department, following the advice and recommendation of the Committee on Toxicity, is developing cabin air sampling research with a number of participating airlines to assemble real time data on substances which may be in cabin air during fume events.

Aviation

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many internal flights there were in each of the last five years; and how many there are forecast to be in  (a) 2008-09,  (b) 2009-10 and  (c) 2010-11.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of internal flights (air transport movements, excluding double counting) in the UK in each of the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			   Flights (£000) 
			 2003 376 
			 2004 405 
			 2005 429 
			 2006 427 
			 2007 417 
			  Source: Civil Aviation Authority 
		
	
	The coverage of air transport movements (ATMs) in the DfT aviation forecasting model, along with the methodology and results, is set out in 'UK Air Passenger Demand and CO2 Forecasts' (2007), available at:
	http://www.dft.gov/uk/pgr/aviation/environmentalissues/ukairdemandandco2forecasts/
	This differs from the coverage of the figures reported above. The differences arise from the range of airports and domestic charter operation's covered, and the categorisation of oil rig and Channel Isles traffic. The difference amounts to around an extra £45,000 ATMs per annum in 2005.
	Owing to the tolerance with which the iterative forecasting model works, forecast results are rounded and presented at no less than five-yearly intervals, the central forecast is for annual domestic air transport movements to grow from £765,000 in 2005 to £840,000 in 2010. This equates to growth in annual domestic flights from £385,000 in 2005 to £420,000 in 2010.

Aviation: Health Hazards

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will investigate the potential impact on health arising from the seeping of emissions from engine lubricants onto the flight decks of aircraft.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government do not want anyone's health to be at risk when travelling by air, and is leading research in this area. In 2007 we commissioned a world first research project to try to capture substances released during transient "fume events". The first stage of this work was to identify and test equipment capable of sampling any potentially harmful substances in cabin air. The report into this first stage work was published by Cranfield university on 21 February after peer review. It is published on the Department's website. The next phase of work is to use the equipment identified to capture real-time fume events; this work is being developed.

Bus Services: Concessions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many local authorities in England offered subsidised bus services after 11 pm in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: The information is hot held at the level of detail requested. Local authorities have discretion to offer concessionary travel beyond the statutory times Which are defined in the Transport Act 2000. The statutory minimum concession is available to eligible residents on local buses from 9.30 am to 11 pm Monday to Friday and at all times at weekends and on bank holidays.

Civil Service Appeal Board

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what percentage of appeals by employees of  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies were (i) heard and (ii) upheld by the Civil Service Appeal Board in each of the last 10 years; how much was awarded in compensation by the Board to each successful appellant in each year; what the reason was for each compensation award; how many appellants were reinstated by the Board in each year; and what the reason was for each (A) dismissal and (B) reinstatement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport was established in 2002, Since then it has responded to 21 cases brought to the Civil Service Appeal Board.
	12 cases were on grounds of gross misconduct, two for breach of ICT policy, two for bringing the agency/department into disrepute, four for other individual reasons and one for which the information is not currently available.
	Six appeals were upheld (29 per cent.), five on the grounds of unfair dismissal and one for a minor procedural error by the department. The total compensation paid was £128,837.55. Only one individual was reinstated (in 2005) following an upheld appeal, as the Board concluded that there was insufficient evidence that the appellant was deliberately bringing the agency/department into disrepute.

Cycling

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions she has had with Welsh Assembly Ministers and Ministers of other devolved administrations to ensure that appropriate funding is made available throughout the UK to encourage the promotion of the shift from cars to cycling.

Rosie Winterton: DfT Ministers have had no such meetings but they are in regular contact with Ministers in the devolved administrations about a range of issues.
	Decisions on local transport issues are a devolved matter.

Departmental Contracts

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what contracts were awarded by her Department to  (a) KPMG,  (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers,  (c) Ernst and Young,  (d) McKinsey,  (e) Deloitte and  (f) other consultancy firms in each of the last 12 months; and what the (i) purpose and (ii) value was of each of these contracts.

Jim Fitzpatrick: A table showing the value and the nature of work undertaken by KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst and Young and Deloitte between 1 March 2007 and 29 February 2008 has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
	McKinsey's have not carried out any work for the Department and its agencies in this 12 month period.
	Details of contracts carried out by other consultancy firms in the last 12 months could be provided in response to this question only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Databases

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2008,  Official Report, columns 772-3W, on departmental databases, which US-registered service providers have been engaged by her Department and its agencies to manage aspects of personal data; and what types of personal information such service providers have been engaged to manage.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The following US registered service providers have been engaged by the Department for Transport to manage aspects of personal data—this list only incorporates contracts under which services are still being provided;
	 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
	International Business Machines Corporation is a registered US company with subsidiaries all over the world. The DVLA's contract is presently with the UK subsidiary, IBM United Kingdom.
	DVLA's prime IT service provider is IBM.
	As the prime IT service provider, IBM has been engaged to manage all aspects of DVLA IT, including responsibility for DVLA's core driver and vehicle databases which contain UK citizens' personal information, including names, addresses, dates of birth, disclosed medical conditions (in relation to the driver's ability to drive) and driving licence photographs. All this information is maintained within the UK.
	IBM is also supporting the programme to migrate the Department to a shared service centre initially covering the Department's financial and Human Resources back-office functions, this includes personal data for the Department's civil servants and the department's-financial data.
	 Driving Standards Agency (DSA)
	The DSA contracts Pearson Driving Assessments Ltd to provide theory test services. Some of these services involve data processing, which is carried out in the US by NCS Pearson, Inc., a US registered company in the same corporate group as Pearson Driving Assessments Ltd. These companies manage data on candidates' personal information (name, address, date of birth, gender), payment information, driver licence number, details of the test taken and the result.
	 Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)
	The MCA has a contract with GroupLink, a US registered company which provides a customer relationship management (CRM) system for part of the MCA. Grouplink managed the migration of the CRM data in 2007 to the new system and currently only provides support for this system without having access to the data which includes contact details of MCA customers.
	As part of the Communities and Local Government Framework Agreement, which the Department and its agencies call off, some parts of the Department use Iron Mountain, a US registered company, for file storage, retrieval and destruction of registered files. Among these files are standard departmental personnel records, which include:
	reports, personal, leave and attendance, medical, conduct and discipline, pay, travel and subsistence, long term detached duty, permanent transfer and secondment files.

Departmental Translation Services

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2008,  Official Report, column 442W, on departmental translation services, how much was spent by her Department and its agencies on translation services into  (a) Welsh and  (b) other languages in (i) 2003-04, (ii) 2004-05, (iii) 2005-06, (iv) 2006-07 and (v) 2007-08 to date.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the Highways Agency, and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, do not hold the data in an appropriate format to provide the breakdown requested. The required analysis to obtain the information would incur disproportionate cost, requiring recourse to all the original invoices for the years concerned.
	The Maritime and Coastguard Agency translated one document into Welsh in 2005, "Stay SAFE at the seaside", at a cost of £329.
	The Vehicle Certification Agency translates the Fuel Consumption booklet into Welsh at an annual cost of approximately £1,000.
	As recorded in the answer of 12 March 2008,  Official Report, column 442W, data is not available for the Driving Standards Agency for 2003-04 and 2004-05. The expenditure shown for 2005-08 (to end January 2008) is for translating forms and the Highway Code into Welsh.

Driving Tests

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to her Statement of 17 December 2007,  Official Report, column 624, on Department for Transport data storage and use, if she will place in the Library a copy of the terms of the contract between the Driving Standards Agency and Pearson Driving Assessments which relate to compliance with UK data protection rules.

Jim Fitzpatrick: A copy of the terms of the contract between the Driving Standards Agency and Pearson Driving Assessments Limited which relate to compliance with UK data protection rules has been placed in the Library.,

Heathrow Airport

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many meetings she has held with  (a) BAA,  (b) HACAN ClearSkies,  (c) 2M Group and  (d) Future Heathrow Group on Heathrow expansion since her appointment.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Since July the Secretary of State has held regular meetings at a senior level with BAA. These have covered a range of issues pertinent to BAA airports including Heathrow. Although the Secretary of State has not met HACAN ClearSkies or the 2M group, I have held meetings with these groups since July either individually or as part of meetings with a wider stakeholder attendance. Both myself and the Secretary of State have met with Future Heathrow Group on one occasion since July.

Heathrow Airport

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the effects of each option for Heathrow expansion as set out in the adding capacity at Heathrow consultation on local public health, with particular reference to  (a) air quality,  (b) nitrogen oxide emissions and  (c) noise pollution; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Our work has been focused primarily on demonstrating compliance with limits on local air quality pollutants and noise. The former relate to European obligations under Directives whose key objectives are protecting human health. The public health impacts of aviation are considered in the development of our policies. We monitor the continuing research on the effects of noise on human health. In addition we take account of existing guidelines and long term targets recommended by the World Health Organisation.

Lorries: Safety

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many lorries in each region of England were detected by  (a) the police and  (b) the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, as being (i) overloaded, (ii) in an unsatisfactory mechanical condition and (iii) driven in breach of drivers' hours regulations, in each of the last 10 years; and what penalties were imposed on those drivers found to be in breach of the law.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) was formed in April 2003, since then the relevant statistics relating to VOSA are:
	
		
			   Prohibited for overloading  Prosecuted for overloading  Mechanical prohibitions  Prohibited for drivers' hours tachograph and records  Prosecuted for drivers' hours tachograph and records 
			  2006-07  
			 North Eastern 609 135 2,660 857 1,527 
			 North Western 887 106 2,548 1,735 952 
			 West Midlands 771 197 1,591 995 564 
			 Eastern 810 111 1,991 1,889 472 
			 South Eastern 1,303 112 6,027 2,757 580 
			 Western 702 128 2,805 874 510 
			 Total 5,082 789 17,622 9,107 4,605 
			   
			  2005-06  
			 North Eastern 605 121 3,037 1,152 1,187 
			 North Western 925 118 2,589 1,449 1,217 
			 West Midlands 699 105 1,680 1,085 823 
			 Eastern 717 118 1,622 1,550 688 
			 South Eastern 773 128 3,763 2,456 691 
			 Western 513 136 2,543 1,042 724 
			 Total 4,232 726 15,234 8,734 5,330 
			   
			  2004-05  
			 North Eastern 522 125 2,848 1,124 1,252 
			 North Western 780 156 2,472 1,216 1,417 
			 West Midlands 420 101 1,571 937 558 
			 Eastern 498 153 1,467 1,017 710 
			 South Eastern 693 157 3,378 1,946 515 
			 Western 444 144 2,325 727 627 
			 Total 3,357 836 14,061 6,967 5,079 
			   
			  2003-04  
			 North Eastern 512 312 2,625 952 1,307 
			 North Western 521 472 2,934 1,092 1,205 
			 West Midlands 326 294 1,535 579 575 
			 Eastern 507 439 1,561 626 1,409 
			 South Eastern 819 480 2,866 1,764 1,163 
			 Western 412 451 2,101 625 1,109 
			 Total 3,097 2,448 13,622 5,638 6,768 
		
	
	VOSA does not individually record the number of prosecutions due to mechanical faults but VOSA is sure this would be an insignificant figure.
	Data collected centrally on the Court Proceedings Database, held by the Ministry of Justice does not identify the vehicle type (e.g. lorry, buses or coaches etc) involved for the specified motoring offences.
	Similarly the Fixed Penalty Notices, Written Warnings and Vehicle Defect Rectification Scheme motoring offences collections, also held by the Ministry of Justice do not identify types of vehicles involved.

Lorries: Testing

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether there are plans to alter the  (a) numbers and  (b) terms of employment of staff employed and based at Vehicle and Operator Services Agency's heavy goods vehicle test stations.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) has  (a) no plans to reduce the number of staff employed in technical roles in its HGV test stations, however, there are plans to reduce the number of admin support staff. As part of the DFT Value For Money programme, VOSA has been investing in modern technology and call handling processes to improve customer service and as a result, fewer admin staff are required. There are plans to reduce the admin work force by 19 FTE's.  (b) VOSA has no proposals to change the terms and conditions of staff based at its HGV test stations, however, work has been done to investigate the options for more flexible opening hours for its test stations which may require new contracts to be negotiated.

M42: Motorway Service Areas

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on negotiations between the Highways Agency, Birmingham International Airport and the management of the Blue Boar Inn on the proposed motorway service area at Junction 6 on the M42.

Tom Harris: The proposed motorway service area is on the mainline between Junction 5 and Junction 6 of the M42. This site was formerly being promoted by Blue Boar Motorways Ltd. and is now being promoted by Swayfields.
	The Highways Agency is not negotiating with Birmingham International airport and the management of Swayfields with regard to the proposed motorway service area. As part of the planning process, the Highways Agency has a duty to co-operate and act reasonably in considering proposals coming forward. Our conclusions on the acceptability of the proposals have been set out in our Proof of Evidence submitted to the ongoing Public Inquiry.
	The Highways Agency has worked with Birmingham International Airport Limited and the National Exhibition Centre on options for, improving motorway access from the M42 to their developments. A Joint Statement produced by the Highways Agency, Birmingham International Airport Limited and the National Exhibition Centre regarding options for improving motorway access from the M42 was read out and given to the Inspector at the Pre-Inquiry Meeting on 19 March 2007.

Ministers: Official Cars

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in which Government Departments permanent secretaries have chosen not to make use of an allocated vehicle supplied by the Government Car and Despatch Agency.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government Car and Despatch Agency does not provide allocated cars and drivers to the Permanent Secretaries of the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Ministry of Defence, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Justice or the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Public Transport: Tickets

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps she is taking to encourage the deployment of train-bus Oystercard-type arrangements in major conurbations other than London.

Tom Harris: The smartcard and integrated ticketing programmes are being rolled out progressively. Plus Bus (add-on bus travel to a rail ticket) is growing and passenger transport executives already have integrated bus and train tickets, safeguarded through rail franchise agreements. The national concessionary bus passes are being introduced on ITSO smartcards and with older people being the biggest users of bus, this gives the potential for further smartcard initiatives.
	The key to more integrated smart ticketing is to establish ITSO on rail in London and elsewhere. ITSO smartcards are being rolled out through new rail franchise agreements and train operators are encouraged to engage with local authorities on ticketing schemes.
	The Northern Way have identified smartcards as a tool which would support economic growth by making public transport more attractive; and are considering how they might potentially encourage take up in the North.

Railways: Standards

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2008,  Official Report, columns 952-3W, on Great Western Trains, if she will make it her policy to place in the Library copies of each train operating company's four-weekly report on their joint performance improvement plans as soon as they are available.

Tom Harris: The four-weekly reports on Joint Performance Improvement Plans contain commercially sensitive information; therefore, it would not be appropriate for these reports to be available in the Library.

Single European Sky Initiative

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps she is taking to promote the introduction of the Single European Sky initiative.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government supports the Single European Sky (SES) and the associated Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) Project and is working to ensure that the objectives of these two efforts are fully met.
	The UK is an active member, through both the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), of the Single Sky Committee (SSC) which was established in 2004 to give strategic direction. Senior officials from the Department also participated in the High Level Group, which was created by the European Transport Commissioner, to look at the future of the European Aviation Regulatory Framework; the Government fully supports its ten recommendations and action plan that were published in July 2007.
	The European Commission are currently working on the drafting of a second package of SES legislation and both the CAA and relevant divisions of the DfT are engaged in that work. The Government will closely scrutinise the proposals for this second package when they are issued later this year.

Tyne and Wear : Metro:

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how much capital funding from the public purse the Tyne and Wear Metro received in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many people were prosecuted for fare evasion on the Tyne and Wear Metro in each year since 1997;
	(3)  how many passengers travelled on the Tyne and Wear Metro in each year since 1997.

Tom Harris: The figures for passenger journeys and prosecutions are as follows.
	
		
			   Number of Passenger journeys (million)  Number of Prosecutions (as advised by Nexus) 
			 1997-98 35.0 1,220 
			 1998-99 33.8 1,015 
			 1999-2000 32.7 1,904 
			 2000-01 32.5 1,877 
			 2001-02 33.4 2,827 
			 2002-03 36.6 2,995 
			 2003-04 37.9 3,477 
			 2004-05 36.8 4,627 
			 2005-06 35.8 5,723 
			 2006-07 37.9 5,738 
		
	
	The prosecutions are mostly for fare evasion but the figures include a small element for other offences, for example relating to trespass and disorder. A precise breakdown is not available.
	Since April 1997 the Government have provided the following specific capital funding.
	
		
			   Purpose  £ million 
			 1999200 to 2003-04 Extension of the Metro to Sunderland 37.465 
			 2000-01 Metrocar refurbishment 0.46 
			 2002-03 to 2004-05 Four Lane Ends Bus/Metro Interchange 7.625 
			 2000-01 CCTV provision 7.2 
		
	
	The Government have also supported investment in the Metro through local transport capital block funding provided to the Tyne and Wear local authorities and the Passenger Transport Executive (Nexus) though the local transport plan (LTP) system and previous arrangements. The proportion of this funding spent on the Metro is a matter for the local LTP partners and information is not held centrally. Nexus has also received grants from the European Commission for Metro capital funding.
	In addition the Government have provided an annual subsidy for the Metro in every year since 1997. Up to and including 2004-05 this was provided solely as revenue support although Nexus were able to use this for capital spending on the Metro. In 2005-06 and 2006-07 the annual subsidy has included a specific element of capital grant of £4.180 million and £4.305 million respectively.

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency: ICT

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason laptops and hand-held devices issued within the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency have been recalled; what effect this recall is expected to have on enforcement and other activities; and when it is expected that all laptops and hand-held devices will be reissued to staff.

Jim Fitzpatrick: In accordance with Government-wide direction, The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) implemented the policy that no unencrypted departmental laptops or drives containing personal data should be taken outside secured office premises.
	The agency minimised the impact on its enforcement activities through increased use of encrypted mobile compliance devices (MCDs), laptops with printing function disabled, and temporary paper-based enforcement processes.
	The overall impact was a temporary reduction in VOSA's normal enforcement performance of about 20 per cent. The agency completed deployment of encrypted operations laptops on 11 March 2008.

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency: Manpower

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans she has for  (a) future numbers of Vehicle and Operator Services Agency inspection staff and  (b) their terms of employment.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) has  (a) no plans to alter the number of inspection staff in test stations in the future, however, there are plans to increase the number of staff involved in enforcement activity. There are 30 new frontline posts as a result of re-investing under the Gershon review and 97 posts as a result of additional Dft funding.
	 (b) The posts will be recruited with staff on newly agreed flexible working patterns to allow the continued roll-out of extended working patterns which was piloted at ports in the south-east.

Nagorno Karabakh

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the recent statements by Azeri President Ilham Aliev on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: We are following closely the situation in Azerbaijan and Armenia following fighting along the Line of Contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces on 4 March, and have noted the statements made by both sides since the adoption of a resolution on the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, by the UN General Assembly, on 14 March.
	We have seen some suggestions that one, or both of the parties, may withdraw from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group-facilitated negotiation process for a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The EU statement made at the UN on 14 March supported the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group, expressed support for all steps which contribute to a peaceful resolution of the conflict and called upon all parties to avoid actions which heighten tensions. We will continue to impress upon the sides that there is no sustainable alternative to a peacefully negotiated solution.

Sudan: Armed Conflict

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the viability of introducing a no-fly zone in regions of the Sudan; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: We rule nothing out-but we are not currently proposing a no-fly zone for Darfur. We assess that a no-fly zone would restrict essential humanitarian operations and be a major logistical challenge due to the size of Darfur and the lack of available air assets. The UN-African Union Mission in Darfur is mandated to monitor military activity, including flights prohibited by UN Security Council Resolution 1591. We continue to push for its rapid and effective deployment.

Fireworks: Prosecutions

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions there were for firework-related offences in  (a) 2003,  (b) 2004,  (c) 2005 and  (d) 2006.

Maria Eagle: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences relating to fireworks in England and Wales for the years 2003 to 2006 can be viewed in the table as follows.
	
		
			  N umber of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences relating to fireworks in England and Wales for the years 2003 to 2006( 1,2,3) 
			   Proceeded against 
			 2003 599 
			 2004 730 
			 2005 708 
			 2006 571 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) The data relates to the following Statutes: Emergency Laws (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1953 S.3 orders made under. Explosives Act 1875 Explosives Act 1923 and order in council and rules thereunder. Fireworks Act 1951. Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol, etc.) Act 1985 Section 2A(1). Fireworks Act 2003 S.11 (l),(2),(3)(a)(b),(4) Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005 S.25(1)(a) and (b) Highways Act 1980 S.131(1)(d), S.161(2)(b) Metropolitan Police Act 1839 S.54(15) Fireworks Safety (Regulations) 1997 S.6(l) (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source:  Court proceedings data held by RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice

Probation: Manpower

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many qualified probation officers were employed in Wales on  (a) 31 December 1997 and  (b) 31 December 2007.

Maria Eagle: Information is not available for the period requested. Data collected prior to April 2003 was collated by a different source and was incomplete in some categories and therefore is not directly comparable with the figures collected since that time.
	The following table shows the staff in post in probation officer grades in Wales from 2003 onwards. It also shows the number of trainee probation officers at the same period.
	
		
			   2003( 1)  2004( 1)  2005( 1)  2006( 1)  2007( 2) 
			  Staff in post  PO  TPO  PO  TPO  PO  TPO  PO  TPO  PO  TPO 
			 Dyfed Powys 46.30 15.00 49.10 15.00 55.70 18.00 49.80 16.00 47.80 16.00 
			 Gwent 68.10 25.00 67.30 33.00 65.30 23.00 92.10 29.00 92.40 29.00 
			 North Wales 67.10 26.00 84.20 21.00 88.30 24.00 90.10 20.00 87.30 19.00 
			 South Wales 157.60 83.00 195.90 48.00 215.10 44.00 210.40 41.00 207.50 9.00 
			 Total 339.10 149.00 396.50 117.00 424.40 109.00 442.40 106.00 435.00 73.00 
			 NPS 6271.50 1818.20 6584.90 1774.00 6894.40 1386.70 7209.55 1134.09 7007.75 1031.20 
			 (1) Figures provided are as at 31 December. (2) Figures provided are as at 30 June and are about to be published.

Probation: Manpower

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many probation staff managers were employed in Wales on  (a) 31 December 1997 and  (b) 31 December 1998.

Maria Eagle: Information is not available for the period requested. Data collected prior to April 2003 was collated by a different source and was incomplete in some categories and therefore is not directly comparable with the figures collected since that time.

Lighting: Billing

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the role of the unmetered supply operator (UMSO) is in calculating local authority bills for street lighting; and if he will take steps to ensure that the charging policy of the UMSO does not inhibit the development by local authorities of small-scale trials of low-energy street lighting technologies.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 25 March 2008
	Each unmetered supply operator (in this context, the electricity distributor or DNO) is obliged to prepare a use of system charging methodology approved by Ofgem which is designed to achieve a number of relevant objectives as set out in their licence. These include an obligation to review the Use of System charging methodology at least once a year and have a methodology that takes account of developments in the licensee's distribution business.
	Ofgem would expect a DNO to ensure that its methodology takes account of developments in its distribution business and DNOs should be made aware of the results of any small scale trials of low energy street lighting which may result in changes to a local authority's inventory. It is for the DNO and local authorities concerned to work together and a DNO to assess whether or not, as a result of such trials, a change is required to its Use of System methodology or Use of System charges. This would be a matter that the DNO would generally discuss with Ofgem.

Mining: Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many requests from the Serious Fraud Office he has acceded to for information on mining compensation.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department is co-operating fully with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO)—however, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on ongoing inquiries.
	My statement in December 2005 reported that, although their investigations are continuing, the SFO were not now focussing on any suspected fraud against the Department.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: Foreign Workers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2008,  Official Report, column 251W, on Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: foreign workers, what the nationalities were of the 12 foreign nationals employed by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority since its establishment.

Malcolm Wicks: The nationalities of the 12 foreign nationals who have been employed by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority since its establishment are as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 USA 2 
			 Irish 2 
			 South African 2 
			 Canadian 1 
			 French 1 
			 German 1 
			 Greek 1 
			 Italian 1 
			 Australian 1

Nuclear Power Stations: Costs

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2008, to the hon. Member for Tamworth,  Official Report, columns 1632-3W, on nuclear power stations: costs, what discount rate was assumed in carrying out the cost-benefit analysis.

Malcolm Wicks: The cost benefit analysis assumed in the central case a post tax real discount rate of 10 per cent. There were also low and high sensitivity cases in which rates of 7 per cent. and 12 per cent. respectively were used.
	The full analysis can be found at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file39525.pdf

Renewable Energy: Finance

Adam Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much his Department has spent on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources in  (a) 2004-05,  (b) 2005-06,  (c) 2006-07 and  (d) 2007-08.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 25 March 2008
	 The 2007 Energy White Paper sets out the Government's policy to promote energy innovation in renewable technologies. The Government are supporting a wide range of technology push measures to stimulate research and development and demonstration through the Research Councils, Technology Strategy Board, Energy Technologies Institute (all DIUS funded) and the Environmental Transformation Fund (DEFRA and BERR funded).
	These bodies work closely together to ensure that funding activities are complementary and together effectively supports a portfolio of technologies, including renewables such as wind, wave and tidal, microgeneration and photovaltaics and bioenergy.
	In addition market pull comes by providing the market mechanisms and incentives such as the renewables obligation (RO). By 2010 the RO along with exemption from the climate change levy will provide around £1 billion per year in support to the renewables industry. We are introducing measures to allow banding of the RO. This will provide the generation industry with greater incentive to develop and deploy those technologies which are currently further from commercial deployment.

Small Businesses

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many new businesses were registered in  (a) St. Albans and  (b) England in each of the last five years.

Malcolm Wicks: VAT registration data provides the only accurate indicator of the level of business start-up activity.
	The number of new VAT registrations in St. Albans and England are shown in the following table for 2002 to 2006, alongside data for the stock of all VAT registered businesses. Data for registrations in 2007 will be available in autumn 2008.
	
		
			  Number of VAT registrations and stock of VAT  registered businesses in St. Albans and England 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  Registrations   
			 St. Albans 540 655 620 620 660 — 
			 England 155,770 168,250 160,565 158,995 159,315 — 
			
			  Stock at start of year   
			 St. Albans 5,715 5,725 5,850 5,940 6,045 6,160 
			 England 1,521,285 1,541,155 1,574,270 1,602,230 1,635,845 1,670,500 
			  Source: Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994-2006, available at: http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/vat 
		
	
	Although the number of new registrations has fluctuated over the period, the total number of VAT registered businesses in St. Albans has increased annually, from 5,715 at the start of 2002 to 6,160 at the start of 2007, an increase of 445 (8 per cent.). For England, in comparison, the total number of VAT registered businesses has increased from 1.52 million to 1.67 million, an increase of 149,000 (10 per cent.).
	VAT registrations do not capture all business activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which was £60,000 at the start of 2006. Only 1.9 million out of 4.5 million UK enterprises (43 per cent.) were registered for VAT at the start of 2006.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people attended hospital accident and emergency departments in  (a) Essex,  (b) Basildon Hospital NHS Trust and  (c) Southend Hospital NHS Trust in each of the last three years.

Ben Bradshaw: The information is not held in the format requested. Information is collected on attendances at accident and emergency (A and E) departments, minor injury units and walk-in centres at trust level, and can be found in the following table for Essex national health service trusts. The data currently available for 2007-08 covers only the first three quarters of the year (April to December 2007).
	
		
			  Attendances at A and E departments, minor injury units and walk in centres, NHS organisations in England 2004-05 to quarter three 2007-08 
			  Organisation  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 (Q1  -Q3) 
			 Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 99, 893 101,342 104,685 74,076 
			 Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust 97,230 99,355 95,470 60,500 
			 Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust 70,291 72,212 73,351 56,207 
			 Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 82,888 85,806 86,384 66,923 
			 The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust 76,189 80,718 81,230 64,746 
			  Note:  Data for 2007-8 is for quarter one to quarter three.  Source: Department of Health dataset QMAE.

Childbirth: Foreigners

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many non-UK residents from  (a) other EU and  (b) other countries gave birth in hospitals in England in each of the last five years, broken down by trust.

Dawn Primarolo: This data is not collected centrally.

Chlamydia: Screening

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 11 March 2008,  Official Report, column 259W, on chlamydia screening, when his Department expects to announce which primary care trusts have met their targets for screening 15 per cent. of their 15 to 24 population in 2007-08.

Dawn Primarolo: Data for the National Chlamydia Screening Programme has been reported to the end of December 2007. Data for the final quarter, January 2008 to March 2008, will be reported to the Health Protection Agency in April and published in May.

Community Care: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much a district nurse home visit costs on average, exclusive of the cost of any treatment being administered in.

Ann Keen: The information requested is not collected centrally. It is for local national health service organisations to commission services to meet local needs. This may include determining the cost of providing home visits by a district nurse.

Dental Services: Staffordshire

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on NHS dentistry in each Staffordshire constituency in each year since 1997.

Ann Keen: The Government's fundamental reform programme for primary dental care services was introduced from 1 April 2006. Primary care trusts (PCTs) were given responsibility for planning and commissioning primary dental services and provided with local, devolved, dental budgets.
	North and South Staffordshire PCTs reported the following expenditure on primary dental care services in 2006-07, the first year of the new service arrangements. Data on expenditure by individual parliamentary constituency are not collected centrally.
	
		
			 £000 
			   Gross expenditure  Income from dental charges paid by patients  Net expenditure 
			 National Health Service expenditure on primary dental care services, North Staffordshire PCT, 2006-07 6,483 1,818 4,665 
			 NHS expenditure on primary dental care services, South Staffordshire PCT, 2006-07 22,574 5,734 16,840 
			  Source: Audited Primary Care Trust Summarisation Schedules 2006-07 
		
	
	Prior to April 2006, most primary dental care services were provided under former general dental service (GDS) arrangements. These were demand led services where the pattern of dental expenditure was largely determined by where dentists chose to practice, and how much NHS work they chose to undertake. PCTs were not given fixed funding allocations, except in those areas where personal dental services (PDS) pilots were established to test alternative, local commissioning arrangements and new forms of contract remuneration.
	Local level data on primary dental care expenditure prior to April 2006 is held by the Information Centre for health and social care, which is due to publish its report 'NHS Expenditure for General Dental Services and Personal Dental Services: England 1997-98 to 2005-06' in the near future. A copy will be placed in the Library following publication.
	This report will give access to the available local-level information by PCT, strategic health authority and parliamentary constituency on expenditure on NHS primary dental care.

Dental Services: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general dental practitioners providing NHS services there were in the City of York  (a) at the latest date for which figures are available and  (b) in each of the last 10 years.

Ann Keen: The number of national health service dentists, in England, as at 31 March, 1997 to 2006 are available in Annex E and Annex G of the "NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England: 31 March 2006". Annex E provides information by strategic health authority (SHA) and by primary care trust (PCT). Annex G provides information by constituency.
	This information is based on the old contractual arrangements, which were in place up to and including 31 March 2006. This report, published on 23 August 2006, is available in the Library and is also available at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/dentistry/nhs-dental-activity-and-workforce-report-england-31-march-2006.
	The numbers of dentists on open NHS contracts, in England, as at 30 June 2006, 30 September 2006, 31 December 2006 and 31 March 2007, are available, in table E1 of Annex 3 of the "NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2006-07" report. This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006. This information is provided by SHA and by PCT. Information by constituency is not available under the new dental contractual arrangements.
	This report, published on 23 August 2007, is available in the Library and is also available at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dental0607.
	The inclusion of dentists on trust led contracts in the data collection following the 2006 reforms means that data collected since April 2006 cannot be directly compared with data collected under the previous system.
	The numbers quoted are headcounts and do not differentiate between full-time and part-time dentists, nor do they account for the fact that some dentists may do more NHS work than others.
	The methodology for reporting dental work force information since the introduction of the new contract on 1 April 2006 is currently under review. The review is to ensure that the figures provide an appropriate measure of the work force, given the way that the work force reporting system is being used by PCTs. The work force data provided in the 2006-07 report will therefore remain the latest available until this review is complete.
	Both reports have been published by the Information Centre for health and social care.

Dermatology: Finance

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding his Department provided for dermatology care in the NHS in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: Funding for dermatology services forms part of the revenue allocations. The following table shows the revenue allocations made to health authorities from 1996-97 to 2002-03 and to primary care trusts (PCTs) from 2003-04 to 2008-09. It is for PCTs to determine how to use the funding allocated to them to commission services to meet the health care needs of their local populations.
	
		
			   000 
			   Total England Allocation 
			 1996-97 20,886,002 
			 1997-98 21,816,441 
			 1998-99 22,895,307 
			 1999-2000 31,192,915 
			 2000-01 34,234,888 
			 2001-02 37,157,382 
			 2002-03 41,468,469 
			 2003-04 45,027,181 
			 2004-05 49,328,244 
			 2005-06 53,924,975 
			 2006-07 04,309,595 
			 2007-08 70,354,697 
			 2008-09 74,197,471

Diabetes

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were diagnosed with  (a) type 1 and  (b) type 2 diabetes in (i) Tyne and Wear, (ii) the North East and (iii) England in each of the last 10 years.

Ann Keen: Data on the number of people with a specific type of diabetes is not available. The overall number of people with diabetes can be provided based on the read codes that are used in the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). The QOF data for diabetes covers people over the age of 17. Data are only available for the financial years 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07.
	Tyne and Wear is not analogous to a national health service organisation. The sum of the primary care trusts of Newcastle, North Tyneside, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland is the closest we can provide.
	In July 2006, strategic health authorities (SHAs) were restructured. We have provided for 2004-05 and 2005-06 the old SHAs that became the new North East SHA. Northumberland, Tyne and Wear SHA and County Durham and Tees Valley SHA became the North East SHA.
	
		
			   Area  Diabetes list size 
			 2004-05 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear SHA 51,408 
			  County Durham and Tees Valley SHA 39,552 
			  'Tyne and Wear' 39,067 
			  England 1,766,391 
			
			 2005-06 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear SHA 54,970 
			  County Durham and Tees Valley SHA 42,380 
			  'Tyne and Wear' 41,511 
			  England 1,890,663 
			
			 2006-07 North East SHA 101,690 
			  'Tyne and Wear' 43,111 
			  England 1,961,976

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in the commitment in the 2008 drug strategy, Tackling drugs, changing lives, to achieve better outcomes for those entering treatment by raising standards, across all treatment providers through new local clinical governance arrangements; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Clinical governance is an increasingly important quality and safety assurance framework for all drug treatment providers. There are important issues about how clinical governance can work across complex drug treatment systems and how this can be helpful to drug treatment services, not just those in the national health service, and their commissioners.
	The National Treatment Agency (NTA) is working with local partnerships to help ensure that clinical governance is operating effectively across the drug treatment sector. The NTA have asked that partnerships set out in their annual treatment plans what actions were planned at a partnership level to identify the current arrangements for clinical governance and what is planned to support their future development to enable service providers to respond to recent guidelines. This should include, as a minimum:
	a planned audit by the partnership of current clinical governance arrangements; and
	an objective that all providers will review their practice in line with recent National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence drug misuse guidelines and technology appraisals (which together effectively update recognised standards of practise) and clinical excellence guidance documents and the recently revised 'clinical guidelines' through an effective clinical governance mechanism.
	In February this year the NTA published a consultation draft of guidance on clinical governance in drug treatment. Consultation will finish on 14 May 2008.

Maternity Services: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on maternity services in each of the last five financial years for which figures are available, broken down by  (a) region and  (b) NHS trust.

Ann Keen: Information is not available by individual trust. The following table shows expenditure by region. The expenditure shown is for the commissioning of secondary healthcare (maternity) by strategic health authorities (SHAs) and primary care trusts (PCTs).
	On 25 January 2008, we announced extra funding over the next three years, totalling 330 million to ensure mothers get the best possible care. The funding which will available to trusts from April 2008 will also ensure a growth in the maternity work force.
	
		
			   
			  SHA area  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 North East 74,560 79,861 91,634 86,823 88,551 
			 North West 227,671 222,087 232,236 246,229 254,309 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 129,157 128,768 141,008 151,349 178,431 
			 East Midlands 93,732 116,418 139,056 134,221 138,948 
			 West Midlands 135,737 151,453 152,441 181,340 176,080 
			 East of England 111,963 114,646 137,075 144,498 131,464 
			 London 179,322 235,184 289,020 318,324 271,826 
			 South East Coast 104,958 112,444 110,282 118,213 111,155 
			 South Central 91,135 89,246 110,115 140,165 137,468 
			 South West 108,522 100,179 141,971 156,042 128,545 
			   
			 England 1,256,757 1,350,286 1,544,838 1,677,204 1,616,777 
			  Sources: Audited SHA summarisation forms 2002-03 Audited PCT summarisation schedules 2002-03 to 2006-07

Midwives: Standards

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what date he estimates midwife numbers will have risen sufficiently to provide 36 midwives per 1,000 deliveries.

Ann Keen: The number of midwives are expected to rise by an additional 4,000 by 2012. Estimates to provide 36 midwives per 1,000 deliveries are not yet available.
	The September 2007 Census figure shows that the number of midwives (full-time equivalent (FTE)) increased by 2.5 per cent. from September 2006 and we now have more than 25,000 (19,298 FTE) midwives, the highest number ever.
	In January 2008 we announced extra funding of 330 million over the next three years to ensure that mothers get the best possible maternity care. This money will be available to the national health service from April 2008 to invest in their maternity services.